Former Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade says it’s about bloody time that another Brit – Jo Konta – made it to the tournament’s semi-final stages.

No British woman has reached the last four since Wade in 1978, the year after her famous victory in the Queen’s Jubilee Year.

And Wade, 72, was fed up with waiting, suspecting she might have to come out of retirement to give the Brits a chance.

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A pal said: “Each year at Wimbledon, Virginia would watch dejectedly as British contender after British contender failed to trouble the later rounds.

“Finally, Konta’s quarter-final win today against Simona Halep means Virginia can be left in peace every July.”

Konta won her thrilling match 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 in front an ecstatic Centre Court home crowd, many of whom expected it would be another 39 years before a British woman makes it to the semis again.

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